"One expert on emerging markets believes this will happen, with the BRICS nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – extending invitations to Indonesia and Turkey to join the club, as it expands its footprint into new regions.

“I was in Moscow recently and there was talk of the BRICS expanding to the BRICSIT, with the new members being Indonesia and Turkey,” Martyn Davies, the chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based emerging markets consultancy Frontier Advisory, a leading research, strategy and capital advisory firm that specialises in emerging markets, told IPS.

“There are sound geo-political and geo-economic reasons for this.”

He outlined why Turkey and Indonesia would be best placed to be at the front of the queue of potential new members, by explaining that an Indonesian addition to the BRICS alliance would extend the club’s reach to Southeast Asia, while Turkey would also add geographical diversification."